


Do you wanna play games, Finn Nelson?

by borntosik



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 16:13:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6712087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/borntosik/pseuds/borntosik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Finn receives his first paycheck, he decides the best way of spending his money is to invite Rae for dinner, although it’s not the fanciest date they’ve had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do you wanna play games, Finn Nelson?

“Finn, lunch break!”

He stops painting when he hears the voice of his boss telling him it’s lunch time and he goes to clean the brush full of orange paint. He cleans his hands with the soup and goes outside the house where he has his small lunch box with his food. He follows his mates around the house and he finishes eating on a corner of the back garden.

“I’ll give you the payment when we finish tonight, alright lad?” Noel, the owner of the paint shop where he’s now working, tells him.

“No problem.” Finn nods with his heads and eats the last bits of white rice and meat he has on his lap.

He’s been working with him for the past three weeks, painting some of the houses and locals around Stamford. Apart from working with Chop in his family business fixing cars and helping some neighbours to move in for a little pay check, he’s now making himself a place in the painting business.

Although Rae doesn’t want him to buy her things, having a girlfriend is expensive. Not that he complains, because seeing his girl’s reaction is priceless. Even though, the first days were alright. He asking to his dad for a few pounds to take Rae to the cinema was acceptable. The problem is when Finn wants to buy her presents when he’s not working… After Gary told him he was not gonna give him more money, he decided it was time to get a job.

He hasn’t come to college, so he has plenty of time to apply for jobs and learn new things. He and Rae have only been together for two months and now that he finally is going to see some money in his pockets, he might surprise her with something.

“Noel, do you mind if I sneak away for the next half hour? I have something to sort of.”

Finn grabs his lunch box and closes it, leaving it with his things inside the house and takes a 7 minute walk until he’s on the main road of Stamford. He passes some of the family business that have always been there like the chemistry, the chippy, a little supermarket and a small baby clothing shop where his mum used to buy him all his things when he was little. He opens the door of the record shop he knows so well and smiles widely when he sees the shop assistant. He approaches her and puts his elbows over the table, leaning a few inches forward.

“Hello. Can I help you?” She says, biting her lips sweetly.

“”Uh, yeah. I think so. I have a girlfriend, you know?” She furrows her eyebrows, making it seem like she’s interested in his words. “I’m looking for her and I was wondering if you’ve seen her?” He takes his eyes off her face for a moment to check her out, licking the corner of his lips.”

“You’ll have to be more precise.” She leans her head forward, crossing her arms on top of the table.

“She’s brunette like you, and have the most beautiful eyes in all Lincolnshire. She has the greatest taste in music and she spends most of the day in here. She a bit pale, but I like it. She’s just like me in that aspect. And she has the most perfect and kissable lips, just like yours… And I haven’t spoken about her arse yet…” He approaches her face a few inches more while he says his speech. He can’t stop the grin in his face.

“I might know who you mean…” She answers with a blush surrounding her cheeks. She finally puts her hands over his and leans on him.

“Hi, girl…” He closes the distance between their lips and kisses her smoothly. He pecks her lips a couple of times before pulling himself away from her lips.

“Hi…” She whispers against him. “What are you doing here?” She’s still whispering to him, although they’re completely alone in the shop. Not even Rae’s boss is here.

“Just wanted to say hi…”

“You should be having lunch… Have you eaten?” She asks, worried because she remembers he’s been working all day and it’s time for his lunch break. She’s now in hers too.

“I’ve eaten.” He assures her. He raises one of his hands and caresses her cheek with his thumb. He takes her other hand in his free one and lands a kiss on it. “Are you busy after work?”

She raises an eyebrow and shakes her head.

“No. Not really…”

“What do you mean not really?”

“I may have to take care of Jazz, but I’m not sure yet. Mum has to give me a call to tell me if she works tonight. Why?”

“Can’t Karim take care of her?”

“I suppose he can, if I ask… Why?”

“I… I just… It’s just Noel’s gonna pay me later. Thought you might like if we go out somewhere tonight…” He shrugs, still holding her hand.

“Really?” She gets excited in mere milliseconds, tightening her tongue against her teeth.

“Really.”

“Okay.” She stops holding his hands and leaves the counter and squeezes herself against his chest. “What time?”

“I’ll pick you up in here when you finish.”

“What?”

“Wha’?”

“No way. I need to take a shower and change my clothes!”

“There’s no need for that.”

“Oh, because I’m sure you’ll go with your hair full of orange paint and your work clothing.” She crosses her arms under her chest, furrowing her eyebrows with a sceptical look. “Pick me up at half past six.” She holds his white tee shirt in her fist and makes their chests collide, half closing her eyes before giving Finn a brief kiss. “You look really sexy in that outfit, but you look better in your boiler suit.” She winks an eye at her and she pats his eyes with her left hand. “Now go or you’re gonna be late for work.”

He smiles against her lips and afterwards, he checks his watch. He only has 13 minutes to walk back and smoke his cigarette.

“See ya later…” He squeezes her arse with his hand before giving her his last kiss and walking out of the shop, leaving her there with a soppy grin in her face.

 

 

He lights his second cigarette since he arrived to Rae’s. What the Hell was she doing in there? He thinks. He finished later half an hour before her, so he had been able to take a shower and change his work clothes that were covered in orange paint to his normal clothing: blue jeans, grey tee shirt and plain shirt with his boots and leather jacket.

Twelve minutes later, he’s still in her living room, waiting for her. His second cigarette almost finished in between his index and middle finger. He walks around the house to throw it on the bin, as Linda has explicitly clarified she doesn’t want him to smoke inside the house when the baby is around.

“Rae?!” He shouts for the third time, now finally getting an answer from her.

“I’m almost done!”

He sits back on the sofa with one of his legs crossed over the other and grabs one of those _Mother &Baby_ magazines Linda has been buying for the last couple of months and opens it, reading the first article: Why is my baby crying?

Good question, because it’s all she does. Jazz is always crying and he doesn’t get why. Her life isn’t as complicated as his. Why should she cry instead of him?

“What are you doing reading _that_?”

Finn raises his eyes and takes a look at his girlfriend and gives her a smile before putting his gaze on the paper again.

“I’m gonna be a dad one day, ain’t I? I need to learn…”

“That day is way too far…” She approaches him and sits beside him, giving his cheek a brief kiss and rests her head against his shoulder. “Shall we?” She whispers to him.

He nods and closes the magazine, placing it over the sofa and stands up. He stares at Rae and holds her hand, entwining their fingers together.

“What took you so long?” He asks when he opens the front door, letting her to go outside before him.

“I had to wash my hair. You know how long it takes… Shampoo, hair mask, drying…” He walks to the car and opens her door, waiting for her to get in. “Thank you…” She kisses his cheek one more time and sits on her seat, closing the door.

While he switches on the car, she picks some of his mixtapes and reads the songs they have it in. She finally choses one called _Knebworth night._ Columbia starts sounding through the speakers underneath the front seats and she furrows an eyebrow.

“Is that…?”

“Yeah. I think it’s the mixtape I did after the concert. Helps to remember, you know?” He holds her hands briefly before putting it in the gearshift.

“So… Where are we doing?”

“I dunno… Where d’you want to go?”

“I thought you had something in mind, you dickhead.” She puts her hand over his, touching the reserve of it with her fingertips in a flirty way and he chuckles. After weeks of going out, he has got it. He now gets what it means when she touches him in _those_ ways.

“I was thinking… maybe some Chinese? Or pizza? We could go to the chippy if you want.” He averts his eyes from the roadway and stares at her. “We could leave the proper date for the weekend, don’t you think?”

She nods.

“It’s alright, Finn. I love spending time with you, even if we go for a pint at the pub.” She takes the hand that is on top of the gearshift and gives him a brief peck on it. “Pizza? I’ve been dying for a bit of cheese today…”

“Pizza it is, then.”

He drives for three more streets around Stamford until he finds a place where he can park and takes Rae by the hand for the 5 minutes’ walk to the pizza place in one of the corners of Stamford. Tonight won’t be knobheads around them. They’re not going to bump into someone they know. Tonight is one to enjoy each other’s company.

“Which one you want, Rae?” He asks when they’re finally inside the Italian establishment. He’s looking at his menu while she drinks some of her Coke.

“Just a margherita…”

“Just that? It’s quite dull, don’t you think?”

“It’s what I want… And you?” She takes a look from the top of his menu, analysing the options he has.

“There’s this one with pineapple. Do you like pineapple, Rae?” He raises his eyes from the menu to look at her. She nods at him with a pleasing smile on her face. “So I think I’m gonna get this one. It’s called Hawaiian pizza… Is it actually from there or something?” He asks as whether it’s an important question.

“I think it’s because of the pineapple.” She lets him know. He’s a bit slow sometimes.

The waitress of the restaurant approaches them a few minutes later, taking the order on a piece of paper with their drinks. The place only has a three more people, so they should get their food sooner than when they order on weekends.

“So... How did your day go?” He asks whilst slipping his hand through the table to catch her hand and entwining their fingers together. He always does that when they’re alone. She finds it cute when he shows those affectionate gestures. He doesn’t do them quite often, especially not when the gang is around.

“It hasn’t been a busy day… Rob says there are more people who come on Friday and Saturday, so he has shown me how to unpack and register the prices on each CD…”

“So you didn’t get bored, did you?”

“Nah… It was fun, actually. I felt like some sort of Charlie’s Angels with the labelling machine. As if I was a spy…” She makes the pose with her hands as if holding a gun and he can’t hide his laughter. “On the afternoon, he showed me how they do inventory. Who would have guessed there’s cool stuff in that old record shop?” She shrugs her shoulders and bites the tip of her tongue.

The waitress comes with their pizzas and they smile lovingly at each other before grabbing their fork and knife and start eating. They eat in silence for the first four minutes, but Rae can’t keep herself quiet. He asks about the albums she has found of the back of the shop, how is that Rob like and she tells him he’s just working there for the money but he knows less music than him (At the end of that, they break into a good laugh) and Rae apologizes and admits Finn has gotten a better taste in music since they’re together… The conversation follows by things about her little sister, how annoying her mum is becoming and music.

“You haven’t spoken yet, Finn Nelson… Don’t tell me you’re cheating on me and that’s why you don’t have anything interesting to say…” She winks an eye at him and shows him the tip of her tongue in a playful way, until she leans her body over the table. “How’s work?”

“I didn’t wanna tell ya, but one of those extra jobs I’m doing is as a dancer in that club on the outskirts… Didn’t wanna worry you.” He winks at her the same way as she has done before and takes her hand one again. “It’s alright. I told you, it’s not the best job ever but you know, everybody knows how to paint walls and stuff. I’ve got a master degree on that because of dad.”

“He has taught you a job, at least. My mum… Well, I’m not gonna talk about my mum’s job while we’re eating…” She lowers her heads and takes another bite of her margherita pizza. They keep eating and talking for more until they are finished with their food.

Rae grabs her bag and takes a blue pen in her right hand. Her dirty tissue from the pizza is in front of her and writes 6 under lashes. She slips the piece of paper to Finn and waits.

“What?”

“Do you wanna play games, Finn Nelson? I’m bored.” She says, smiling at him.

He picks the tissue in his hands and furrows an eyebrow, but Rae takes it again and places it over the table.

“Don’t take it! I need to draw! C’mon. Say a letter.”

She holds herself by her elbow and pays attention at his expression.

“_ _ _ _ _ _”

“A?”

She shakes her heads and mimics a no with her lips. Afterwards, she draws a line in a corner of the paper.

“E?”

She shakes her head again, laughing when she keeps writing another perpendicular line.

“I?”

She grins at him and writes the letter I in its place on the gaps.

“_ I _ _ _ _”

“O?”

“Are you gonna say every vocal or what?” She answers while writing the other vocal on the paper.

“_ I _ _ O _”

Finn analyses every detail in the small shop and wonders what it is what she’s thinking.

“I don’t know… Maybe an S?”

She draws another line and raises her eyebrows playfully, saying without words that his next mistake is _his_ head.

“M?”

She puts the corner of the pen where the line of the paper ends and, carefully, she makes a perfect circle.

“Are you kidding me? It can’t be that difficult!” He puts his index finger cuticle in his lips and bites it. “Alright. D.”

She chugs and writes the letter he says.

“_ I _DO_”

“What the fuck is that?” He takes another look at the establishment while Rae waits for another answer. “Give me a few seconds to think.” His eyes analyse everything around him until he turns around and sees the big and transparent crystal. “It’s window, isn’t it?” He asks with a wide grin in his face.

She just bites her lips and nods, passing him the pen.

“_ _ _ _ _”

“A?”

“Nope.”

He begins to draw the first line of the hangman when Rae says the next one.

“E?”

Another line follows the one drawn before.

“O?”

“_ _ O O _.”

“Right… Broom.”

He writes the left letters on its gaps and gives her a killing gaze.

“My turn…” Her eyes follow some lads at the end of the shop and thinks of a possible word, but she refuses a second later.

“_ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _”

“Two words?”

“Yes.”

“A.”

“_ _ _ _    A _ _ _ _ _ A _ _”

“E.”

First line.

“I.”

“_ _ _ _    A _ _ I _ _ A _ _”

“O.”

“_ _ O _    A _ _ I _ _ A _ _”

“Now… S.”

She smiles to herself, knowing that word it was much easier to guess because of the words he’s been saying.

“S _ O _    ASSIS _ A _ _”

“Oh, I know this one!” He winks an eye at her and answers the game.

“Shop assistant!”

They keep playing a couple of times more until one of the managers of the place tells them they’re cleaning the establishment and if please, they can pick their things and go outside so they can close.

“I guess we’ll have to leave, then…” Finn says while shrugging his shoulders, taking a look at the place employee before standing up.

The couple grab their things and leave the place, although they don’t go so far. It’s nearly 8 and they don’t want to go home yet, even if they have to work the following day. Finn sits on one of the benches closer to the entrance of the park and palms his side to encourage Rae to sit beside him. 

“I was having fun in there…” She tells him whilst resting her head against his arm and pointing with her index finger to the pizza place at the end of the street.

“Yeah, me too…”

“Wait.” She takes her bag off and opens the zip, holding her diary in her hand. She opens it in the last page and rips it. She gives him a quick smile and a wink and takes a glimpse of something she can write on the paper. “_ _ _ _ _”

“A.”

“No.”

“E.”

“No.”

“I?”

“_ _ I _ _”

“T.”

“The next one and it’s your head, Finnley…” She whispers when she finishes painting the third line of the hang.

“S?”

“S _ I _ _”

He looks around but he hasn’t found yet what the word she has in mind is.

“Seats?”

“What? That doesn’t even make sense… And by the way, it has an I. An I!” She draws a small circle and waits. He gazes the place around them and wonders if it’s the playground on their back.

“Is it swings?”

She nods and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and writes the left letters on her white paper. She holds him the paper but she notices how a red blush covers his cheeks. His eyes are avoiding her for a brief moment until he stares at her lengthily. He doesn’t think about anything else but her and takes the pen from her hand and writes the gaps on the paper.

“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _”

“A.”

He quickly draws a big line on one side of the paper, smiling to herself but trying not to be noticeable by her.

“E, then.”

“_ _ _ _ E _ _ _”

“I…”

“I_ _ _ E _ _ _”

“S.”

He writes the next line in a perpendicular way against the other and crosses his legs under the bench. He breathes in and raises his left hand to clean the corner of her mouth.

“You had some sauce…”

“Oh, God…” She hides her mouth with her hands, panicking; but she relaxes when Finn starts laughing because of her expression. “Fuck you!”

“Not now, Rae! Someone could see us…” He answers in a worried tone. He winks at her afterwards and grins to himself.

“Dickhead…”

He doesn’t say anything else but stands still for her new letter.

“Alright. No S, so… T.”

“No T, I’m afraid…” He shrugs and writes a small line again, preparing the hook.

“R. I’m sure there is an R in there!”

He gives her his sweetest smile but then he ends up writing a big circle under the hook, biting his lips triumphal. She furrows her eyebrows and looks around, trying to find out what’s hiding behind those gaps. She tries hard, but nothing around her reminds her of something with an I and E.   

“Is it here? _That_ thing.” She asks, turning her body towards him and holding her body by putting her elbow over the back of the seat.

“Kind of…”

“Kind of? What does that even mean? It has to be here. I have to see it!”

“Oh, it’s definitely in here but… but you can’t exactly see it?”

“That doesn’t make sense, Finn!” She finally crosses her arms against her breast and furrows her lips. “Change it!” She demands.

“I can’t!”

“Yes, you can!”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you have to guess it. It’s not as hard as it looks like…”

“Give me a hint, then.”

“What? No!” He laughs because she’s supposed to be the smart one, but she keeps answering with the wrong letters.

The hangman is almost with its full body hanging and Finn can’t stop laughing at the dumbness of his girlfriend and he’s going to draw one of the legs when she stops his hand.

“Please, give me one more chance.”

She pouts at him and all he does is laugh.

“O.”

“I _ O _ E _ O _.”

“What the fuck is that?” She blinks for a couple of seconds, thinking of a possible word that fits in those gaps. “Give me a hint… Pleeease…” She looks at him with puppy dog eyes and sits closer to him in order to persuade him. “Pleeeease…”

“It’s not _one_ word.”

“More than one?” She reckons. If there are more than one words, why the hell did not separate them? She thinks. And it’s true, but in that case, it would be more obvious, wouldn’t it? He’s just waiting for her to resolve the incognita when she opens her eyes widely. She turns her body completely at him without saying anything. It can’t be. Then, she whispers: “Don’t say it if you don’t mean it…”

He can’t stop the chuckle when he hears that sentence. The same one when he told her he _liked_ her after her mum’s reception. He swallows some of the saliva that holds in his mouth and gives her a hug, taking the advantage of the situation. He’s afraid of saying it out loud. Maybe it’s not the time. Maybe it’s not the moment to say it. Maybe… maybe he should have taken her on a proper and fancy date. Like the bowling date… That was a date, and not going for a pizza after a long day at work. He stands still until her arms are around his hips and he takes a deep breath. He just has to raise his fingers and press through her jacket with his index fingertip. Without realizing, letters are spread across the length of her back.

_I love you._

 


End file.
